


act naturally

by perfectlyrose



Series: help i need somebody (not just anybody) [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Scenes, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Ficlet Collection, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Missing Scenes, Mutual Pining, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2018-12-17 03:23:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11842947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfectlyrose/pseuds/perfectlyrose
Summary: A collection of missing and alternate POV scenes from the fic "help i need somebody (not just anybody)"





	1. master of strategy

**Author's Note:**

> After they pick up dinner on the way back to their building after taking Jackie on a tour of the town, John and Rose relax in John’s flat. Set immediately after the events of chapter four and before the start of chapter five.

“Come on, you can’t be serious,” Rose cried out, poking John’s side with her foot. “You’re having me on.”

“I am completely, one hundred percent serious,” he said, grabbing her foot with his free hand. He was somehow managing to keep a straight face but the twinkle in his eyes gave him away. “That’s really how Jack and I met. He’ll tell you the same thing if you ask.”

“If you ever let me meet him, I will,” Rose warned. “Because pickpocketing you and then giving your wallet back so he could ask you for a date sounds highly unlikely.”

“That’s only because you haven’t met Jack.” He ran his fingers down the sole of Rose’s foot and she squealed. She tried to get her foot back but her squirming resulted in her moving closer to John on the sofa.

“You are so lucky I wasn’t still holding my beer when you did that,” she said with a mock huff once she’d regained her breath. They’d ended up in his flat after picking up their curry and dinner had turned into them watching some ridiculous documentary on Netflix that was now being ignored.

“I bided my time,” John claimed. “Waited for the perfect moment to strike.”

She rolled her eyes and jabbed him with her elbow. “Master of strategy, you are.”

He just winked outrageously at her in response.

Rose stood and plucked his empty beer bottle from his hand before stooping to get hers off the floor. “Want another?”

“Nah, I think I’m done for the night.”

“Suit yourself.” Rose walked into the kitchen and set the bottles next to the sink before opening the fridge and snagging another beer.

“Help yourself, though,” John called.

Rose popped the lid off in answer. “Will do, thanks.”

She grinned at him as she walked back towards the couch, giggling when he rolled his eyes. Rose plopped down right next to John and settled her head on his shoulder. “So, do you know what’s actually happening in this documentary or should we pick something new?”

She felt him take a shaky breath and then before she could second-guess how she had practically cuddled up to him, he was off and rambling about the contents of the documentary and all the ways it was wrong.

Rose settled against him further and took a sip from her beer. She really hoped that nights like this would be something that lasted after Jackie went home and she and John were freed from their charade.


	2. the start of something new

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John is settling in for an evening with a book he’s been meaning to read for a few months when he’s interrupted by a knock on the door. (John’s POV of chapter two where Rose asks him to be her fake boyfriend)

John had just settled down on the sofa with a book, ready to start his weekend off from the lab with a book he’d been meaning to read for a couple of months when a knock on his door echoed through his flat. Frowning and confused as to who could possibly be knocking on his door on a Friday evening, he set his book aside and walked towards the door.

He took a peek through the peephole and smiling as he spotted a familiar blonde on the other side of the door. A visit from Rose was always better than a couple hours of reading, which wasn’t something he could say about most people.

He unlocked the door and swung it open, grin still on his face. The excited greeting died on his tongue as he took in Rose’s distressed expression and the paleness of her face.

John reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently as he made sure she didn’t topple right over. “Rose, you look like you’ve seen a ghost. Are you alright?”

His heart was racing as she tried to find her voice. She took a deep breath and looked up at him with those big brown eyes that he often felt like he was drowning in. “I need your help.”

Now it was his mind that was racing. He didn’t know what would panic Rose this much and he was already jumping to the worst conclusions. Forcing himself to calm down, to be grounding for her, he took a deep breath and ran his thumb back and forth over her t-shirt clad shoulder.

“Come in, it looks like you’re about to keel over,” he said. He pulled her forward and then settled his hand on the small of her back as he led her over to his sofa so she could sit. He felt terrible about the fact that his fingertips were tingling from the contact while she was obviously in a crisis.

If he could figure out a way to make his probably-more-than-a-crush on her take a backseat for a bit, that would be great, but he hadn’t really mastered that particular trick yet. Hadn’t even gotten close.

“Do you want some water? Tea?” John offered. He didn’t like the way her hands were trembling still, the way she hadn’t already spit out whatever was on her mind.

“John, I’m fine, I promise.”

He snorted in disbelief. “You don’t look fine.”

“Oi!”

John just continued talking over her exclamation. “And fine people don’t normally show up at my door pale as a sheet and asking for help. So, tea?”

Rose flopped back on the sofa and he knew he’d won. “Fine. Tea. We’re both going to need it by the end of the conversation.”

“That sounds encouraging,” he shot back as he headed towards the kitchen. 

Rose groaned in what he thought sounded like embarrassment. Everything she said just ratcheted his curiosity higher. He quickly set the kettle to boil and got down two mugs, automatically making them to their individual preferences.

The ritual of making tea calmed him a bit and his hands were steady as he walked back to the sofa. He handed Rose her tea and sat down on the opposite end of the couch.

“Thanks, John,” she said quietly, dipping her head to breathe in the steam from the tea before taking a sip. She set the mug down on the coffee table and laced her fingers together like she needed to hold onto something or she’d fall apart.

“Of course. Now what’s going on and how can I help?”

“You’re probably going to hate me for this,” she warned.

“Impossible.”

“You say that now…”

“And I mean it,” he promised, trying to look as earnest as he felt. “What’s going on?”

“So my mum called me a few minutes ago and she’s on her way up here for a surprise visit.”

John gave her a puzzled look. “And that necessitates my help how?”

Rose bit her lip and then gave him a sheepish smile. “Because she sorta thinks the two of us are dating.”

John’s brain came to a screaming halt. He was fully aware he was just gaping at Rose but he could not find words. “Ah,” he finally said, snapping his mouth shut.

“Yeah.”

“And she got that idea from where?” His voice climbed a few pitches as his heart started racing. Had Rose noticed his crush and decided to use it to lie to her mum for some reason? Had he been completely obvious all this time? He didn’t think she’d do something like that but...

“Well, she kept nagging me about my lack of a love life and threatening to find someone to set me up with and one of the nights you were coming over for dinner I just told her that I was seeing you so she’d stop pestering me. I didn’t think anyone would ever know! I thought she’d warn me ahead of time before planning a visit so I could tell her we broke up or something.” Rose picked at her fingernails as she talked, obviously nervous.

“But now she’s coming to visit and is expecting to meet me.”

Rose nodded. “Got it in one.”

“And we can’t break up now, I take it?” Despite this all sounding like a disaster waiting to happen, John really didn’t want to break up with Rose, even in this pretend relationship she’d spun for her mum.

Rose grimaced. “Well, we could, but you’d probably get slapped by my mother.

He winced and rubbed his cheek. “Okay, not the best plan then. What exactly  _ is _ the best plan?”

She gave him a hopeful look that he hadn’t been able to resist since the day he met her and helped her carry boxes up the stairs. “I was hoping you’d agree to be my fake boyfriend for a few days while my mum’s here.”

Oh, this was definitely a bad idea, John thought. Bad, bad, bad. He’d never been a good actor and surely Rose would figure out how very smitten he actually was and then where would they be?

“Doesn’t sound too hard,” he heard himself say. “I’m game.”

“Really? Just like that, you’re in?” she sounded incredulous and he just grinned, hoping the manic expression covered his trepidation.

“Of course. Come on, Rose Tyler, you should know by now that I almost never say no to you.” It was more true than she could know. Once she flashed that smile at him, there was very little he wouldn’t do. “Besides, why would I turn down an opportunity to potentially embarrass you in front of your mother?”

“Oh, I’m going to regret this,” Rose said with a sigh. She smiled at him, color starting to seep back into her cheeks.

Yeah, as long as Rose Tyler was smiling at him with those big brown eyes sparkling, he would do anything she asked, even if it was likely to result in his heart breaking.

“Probably,” he agreed. “So, what have our alternate selves been up to and when did we start dating?”

Rose made a face like she was still bracing for a bad reaction from him. “About three and a half months ago.”

His heart stuttered a bit as he realized that she’d been keeping this fiction going for quite some time. He wondered if she’d enjoyed the idea of dating him but pushed away the thought quickly. Obviously she didn’t want to date him for real or she would’ve let on by now.

“You don’t even remember our anniversary exactly? I’m offended, Rose. Hurt and offended,” he declared dramatically.

Rose pushed at his shoulder with a laugh. “Wanker. It was a casual thing at first so neither of us can agree what the first date was or when we were technically  _ together _ .”

“Casual?” John choked out, a million images that he really didn’t need to be thinking about when Rose was right next to him racing through his mind. “Did you really tell your mother that you were using me for sex instead of dating me?”

“No!” She said emphatically as her cheeks turned bright red. “I meant that we kinda went on a few dates without either of us officially calling them dates.”

“Ah, okay. Makes sense,” John said, trying to banish all thoughts of Rose using him for sex from his head so he didn’t embarrass himself further. “That makes it easier since our stories don’t have to match.”

“Glad that my lies are convenient in this instance,” Rose said. She reached forward to get her tea off the coffee table and took a sip. “I cannot believe that this is happening,” she muttered.

“Oh come on, Rose” he wheedled, even though he was of the same mind. “It’ll be a lark! I’ll just charm your mum and maybe she won’t ask a million questions.

Rose gave him an incredulous look and promptly burst into laughter, almost causing her tea to slosh over the rim of the mug.

“You really have no clue what you’ve agreed to. Jackie is going to give you the third degree and there’s not much I can do to stop her.”

“Then you better start teaching me what I need to know to pass as your boyfriend,” John said. He was fairly sure he would be an excellent student at this subject. Motivation and interest were key in learning, after all. “You said she’ll be here in a few hours?”

Rose nodded. “And she asked if you would be coming with me to the train station to pick her up.”

He rubbed his hands together. “Then let’s get started.”

He listened as Rose started giving him the rundown of what she’d told Jackie over the past few months. He tried to note all the pertinent details, locking them into his memory along with all the other information he’d carefully noted about Rose since they’d met.

“It’s basically just our normal lives, just with kissing and maybe hanging out a bit more,” she said.

John felt a bit dazed by the fact that their friendship practically passed as dating as it currently stood and he’d never really noticed despite his longing. His fingers itched to touch her, to make this story they were about to tell an actual reality. Instead, he took the last sip of his now-cold tea.

“Sorry again,” Rose said, eyes dropping back to her lap where she was fiddling with her empty mug. “I know that this is a lot to remember and a lot for me to ask of you. You can still back out if you want.”

John’s heart constricted. She was so worried and here he was dreaming about something he could never have instead of easing her mind. 

“The remembering shouldn’t be a problem. Like you said, it pretty much mirrors our friendship, just with more kissing, and all of that is easy to remember,” John said, picking up speed as he talked. “And like I said before, I don’t mind helping you out. I’m off work for the next few days because another department is running an experiment that they need our lab for. Really, you’re saving me from getting extremely bored and doing something our landlord would disapprove of.”

Rose rolled her eyes and John was pleased to see a smile forming on her face. “He still hasn’t forgiven you for setting off the smoke detectors last month.”

“Better than the time he evacuated the building because someone thought they smelled gas when it was just my experiment,” John mused.

“I assume this was before I moved in? Because I haven’t heard about this one.”

John grinned at her. “About a month before you moved in. He was livid.”

“Oh I bet!”

He basked in the warmth of her smile for a moment before plucking her mug out of her grasp and heading towards the kitchen. Once he was sure she couldn’t see his face, he asked one of the questions that was still weighing on him.

“So, for your mum’s visit, how affectionate is she going to expect us to be?”

Rose was quiet for a moment before she answered. John tried not to tense as he waited for her answer. He focused on putting the mugs in the sink without his hands shaking.

“Very,” she said, apology evident in her voice. “I’m a tactile person.”

John wasn’t sure whether he should be elated about the prospect of being able to finally touch Rose without overanalyzing every move or devastated that it was only because of this farce that he would be allowed.

“Noticed that actually,” he said as he rinsed out the mugs. He hoped his cheerful tone wasn’t overkill. “I’m the same so it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

Understatement of the century.

He was setting the mugs on the drying rack when he heard Rose curse quietly.

“John, I’ve got to go clean up my flat. My mum’s not staying with me but she’s going to want to come see it first thing, despite the multiple video call tours I’ve given her.”

“Need any help?” he offered, turning to face her with the dish towel still in hand.

“You’re already helping plenty,” Rose said. “I can handle my flat.”

“Let me walk you back then,” he offered before he even thought about it. He was about to spend the weekend with her but he still didn’t want her to go.

He knew the second he was alone, he was going to have to face all the ramifications of what he’d agreed to.

Rose laughed. “It’s just down the hall, you idiot.”

“I’m practicing being a good boyfriend,” he countered, winking at her.

“Fine, whatever.” The smile that spread across her face was a sight to behold - all bright and beautiful and tongue-touched.

He lobbed the dish towel towards the sink and followed Rose out to the hallway. They were just outside of his door when he reached over and took her hand, lacing their fingers together. He tried to seem nonchalant, swinging their hands a bit, but really his heart was pounding and all of his attention was focused on where they were joined together.

How was he going to make it through the weekend when just holding her hand made him a bit giddy?

“Practice was probably a good idea,” Rose said as they came to a stop outside of her door. He was inordinately pleased that she hadn’t pulled her hand away. 

“I thought so,” John said. He couldn’t quite decipher her expression but decided to push things just a smidge farther. It might be the only chance he had when her mother wasn’t watching them like a hawk. “And if Jackie’s going to expect us to be affectionate, there’s something else we might want to practice before she gets here.”

“Oh? And what would that be?” Rose looked up at him, eyes shining with what he was foolishly going to label as hope and anticipation even though he knew he was probably projecting.

He shuffled forward half a step, hoping his face wasn’t giving too much away. “Can I kiss you, Rose?”

She held his gaze, mouth opening just the slightest bit as she nodded.

John’s pulse was racing as he cupped her cheek with his free hand. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, determined to savor this first, almost stolen kiss for all it was worth. He kissed her slowly, thoroughly, learning what she responded to best.

Her breath hitched and he pulled back, resting his forehead against hers, not ready to completely retreat yet. His tongue flicked out to wet his lips and the taste of her exploded on his taste buds, overwhelming him for a moment. It took everything he had not to lean down and kiss her again, kiss her deeper so he could learn her taste from the source instead of secondhand.

John sucked in a breath and squeezed her hand as he straightened. He hoped he didn’t look as shellshocked as he felt. He noted that she looked lovely all flushed and recently kissed and filed the image away for later consideration.

“Right, I’ll let you get to your cleaning,” he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He needed to leave, needed to clear his head before he forgot himself and pulled her close again.

“Yeah, good plan,” she said, nodding. “I’ll let you know when it’s about time to leave for the train station.”

John nodded and turned to head back to his own flat. He was almost there when he heard Rose’s door shut. He slipped into his flat and leaned his back against the door, the kiss playing on an endless loop in his head.

His head fell back against the door with a thunk. How the hell was he going to make it through this weekend without Rose realizing that he wasn’t pretending to be in love with her? How was he going to make it through this weekend without his heart getting absolutely shattered in the process?

How was he ever going to be able to go back to just being friends with her when he’d finally learned what it was like to kiss her?

He let out a deep sigh and headed to his bedroom to figure out what to wear to meet his not-actual-girlfriend’s mother. He could do this.


End file.
